Date:  August 29, 2025  |   Story: Tiffany Adams  |   Photography: Rett Peek  |  

A water leak gives designer Krista Lewis the opportunity to update her bath in a classic, character-rich style

When Krista Lewis and her husband, Dan, discovered a leak in their Little Rock home’s primary bath, she took it as a sign to implement a redesign of the room. “All we really needed to do was replace the shower pan, but this house was built in 1980, and the bath was original to the house,” she explains. While the pair had lived with the layout since moving in over a decade ago, Krista could envision a more user-friendly footprint as well as a style update reflective of her traditional aesthetic. Knowing that to repair the leak they would have to do some construction, they pushed a bath renovation to the top of their home project list.

Working out the floor plan, she moved the shower to the opposite wall, traded a built-in jetted tub for a standalone version, and split the room’s former double vanity into two separate stations that flank the new tub. The modifications also allowed for the creation of a private water closet. “We wanted to keep the closets and add a linen closet because there are not a lot of them in the house, so that all dictated the footprint,” Krista says. “It was not the most economical way, but I love the new layout,” she adds.

To make the space cohesive with their bedroom’s style, Krista opted for a palette of blue and neutral hues. “I love blue and white, as you can see,” she says. For starters, she selected Sanderson’s “Summer Harvest” wallpaper. “I have wanted to use this wallpaper for a while, and it fits with what’s going on in the rest of our house,” she says. “In clients’ homes and ours, I want there to be a flow and for everything to make sense together but also for each space to be interesting on its own.” Chests were transformed into vanities with a coat of paint (Benjamin Moore’s “Silver Mist”) and topped with ceramic-bowls-turned-sinks. To create a backsplash, artfully cut boards were installed behind the wall-mount, unlacquered brass faucets for an added flourish. “I love that you can see the patina on the fixtures, and if a little paint comes off of the vanity, I’m great with that, too. It’s part of life. We are going to live here; it’s going to be used,” she says. “I wouldn’t do the painted counters or hardwoods if designing this space for kids, but this is a grown-up bath,” she adds, noting that her house is often a place to experiment. Over the vanity, mirrors open to reveal inset medicine cabinets with built-in electrical outlets for toothbrushes and razors and plenty of space to store daily use items off the counters.

Unlacquered brass fixtures repeat in the shower, while a blue-and-white marble tile brings interest to the floor. Krista smartly placed the lever near the door rather than under the showerhead, giving the ability to turn on the shower without getting wet. Both here and at the tub she opted for handheld faucets that make cleaning a breeze and can also come in handy if someone is recovering from an injury. Krista notes a garden stool or small table is a necessity to pair with standalone tubs. “If you don’t have a tub with an edge, there’s nowhere to put your stuff or to sit to shave your legs. You have to think through how you will do that when you are designing,” she says.

Krista framed child-sized, antique tea set trays and regular saucers in gold bamboo frames to serve as artwork over the tub. “These are from the 1800s, and I love that you can frame them to look almost like intaglios,” she says.

“I want there to be a flow and for everything to make sense together but also for each space to be interesting on its own.”
—Krista Lewis

Each vanity’s medicine cabinet is framed by a pair of Visual Comfort sconces topped with shades in a Schumacher for Visual Comfort fabric.

Design Resources
Interior design Krista Lewis, K. Lewis Interior Design Fixtures, furniture, hardware, lighting, mirrors, and wallpaper K. Lewis Interior Design Framing BK Moulding Millwork Pinnacle Home Improvement Paint Benjamin Moore Painting Dustin Suitor Tile ProSource of Little Rock